Chapter 16

As Stanley entered the Wreck Room, he could hear X-Ray’s voice from all

the way across the room.
“See what I’m saying,” X-Ray said. “Am I right, or am I right?”
The other bodies in the room were little more than bags of flesh and bones,
dumped across broken chairs and couches. X-Ray was full of life, laughing
and waving his arms around as he talked. “Yo, Caveman, my man!” he called
out.
Stanley made his way across the room.
“Hey, slide on over, Squid,” said X-Ray. “Make room for the Caveman.”
Stanley crashed on the couch.
He had looked for a hidden camera in the shower. He hadn’t seen anything,
and he hoped the Warden hadn’t either.
“What’s the matter?” asked X-Ray. “You guys tired or something?” He
laughed.
“Hey, keep it down, will you,” groaned Zigzag. “I’m trying to watch TV.”
Stanley glanced uncertainly at Zigzag, who was staring very intently at the
busted television screen.

The Warden greeted the boys at breakfast the next morning and went with
them to the holes. Four dug in the holes, and three tended to the
wheelbarrows. “Glad you’re here, X-Ray,” she said to him. “We need your
sharp eyes.”
Stanley spent more time pushing the wheelbarrow than digging, because he
was such a slow digger. He carted away the excess dirt and dumped it into
previously dug holes. He was careful not to dump any of it in the hole where
the gold tube was actually found.
He could still see the tube in his mind. It seemed so familiar, but he just
couldn’t place it. He thought that it might have been the lid to a fancy gold
pen. K B could have been the initials of a famous author. The only famous
authors he could think of were Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, and
Mark Twain. Besides, it didn’t really look like the top of a pen.